Even if it's old and unused, something of value could be hiding in your basement or out in the garage. Be sure you're not tossing out something worth serious cash.
Gold and silver jewelry
The real stuff is often thrown in with costume jewelry in a shoebox or dresser drawer. With gold and silverprices so high, even an ugly piece that doesn't qualify as a valuable heirloom can be sold for its scrap value. Since most refiners won't take retail customers, you'll need to get bids from a few gold-buying stores in your area.
'Tacky' heirlooms
Don't underestimate the value of old stuff (even if it's not to your taste) that can be hidden in an ordinary, modestly priced house. No, you may not find a Tiffany lamp worth $80,000. But a new client showed Brooklyn, N.Y., appraiser Fran Zeman a collection of porcelain plaques she had inherited and thought were worthless. It turned out they were hand-painted in late-19th-century Berlin and worth thousands.
Sorry, most of those stacks of old National Geographic and Forbes magazines are destined for the recycling bin. But there's a market on eBay for specialty magazines like Interiors, a vintage design magazine that sells for $20 a copy, and for general-interest magazines of a certain age, or with special covers. A 2008 New Yorker cover featuring a "Muslim" Barack Obama with a gunslinging Michelle got nine bids and sold for $51 on eBay.
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